Avid fisherman ID’d in lake death

BROOKFIELD — An East Hartford man who died after a boating accident Sunday was an avid fisherman who operated his own home improvement business.

Officials have identified Gary Hayes, 48, as the person who died after a boat capsized Sunday on Candlewood Lake. Officials received a report around 12:30 p.m. about an overturned vessel with two men on board.

Joseph Miranda, 29, of Manchester, was able to swim to shore despite the cold water temperatures and refused medical treatment.

Hayes was located in the water and brought to Danbury Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Besides being a huge Red Sox fan, Hayes also had a passion for fishing and often post videos of his adventures on Facebook. The last video he posted was around 9 a.m. Sunday while fishing on Candlewood several hours before his death.

“We’re out here on this beautiful fall day,” Hayes says on the video as the wind can be heard whipping through the air. “If you look over there you can see white caps. We’re in a spot that’s sheltered, but it’s still windy.”

While the accident remains under investigation by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s Conservation Police, authorities said the two were fishing on choppy waters when the boat was “swamped” with water and capsized. Neither man was wearing a life vest, officials said.

Winds on Sunday near the lake gusted as high as 40 mph with a sustained wind speed of about 20 mph, according to the Connecticut Weather Center. The water temperature was in the low 50s, which means hypothermia can develop in under half an hour, authorities said.

“It’s still windy,” Hayes said in one of his last videos posted Sunday. “We have a few fish so far on the boat. I want to wish you all a wonderful day. I hope you are all warm and safe in your beds.”

Friends and family members of Hayes commented on Facebook about how much he would be missed.

“He was full of life and was always smiling and loved fishing and of course the Red Sox,” wrote Harold Flenke on the website. “Every day I would get up and check my phone looking for his FaceBook live post when he was fishing and all of us that knew him knew he loved fishing.”

Sunday’s fatality is not the first death on Candlewood Lake this year. This past summer, teacher Wanda Tirado, 38, was reportedly thrown from a pontoon boat and struck by that boat’s propeller. Tirado was a teacher at St. Mary’s School in Waterbury.

Gary Morrone, the boat’s pilot, was arrested and charged with first-degree reckless operation, failure to help a collision victim and failure to immediately notify law enforcement after reportedly fleeing the scene.